Railway truck



May 20, 1941l R. EKsERlAN RAILWAY TRUCK Filed June 22, 1939illmillllllllu llli .f w w RupenE/se ATTORNEY. y

Patented May i 20, 1941` Rupen Eksergian, Lansdowne, Pa., assignor tdEdward G. Budd Manufacturing Company,

Philadelphia,

Vania Pa., a corporation of Pennsyl- Appucationrune 22, 1939, serial No.280,482 claims. (c1. 10s- 182) 'I'he present invention relates torailway trucks.

More specifically it relates to trucks where# in the axles are supportedby composite at springs, extending generally in a direction parallel tothe said axles.

Still more specifically, the truck comprises a number of compositesprings, eachI consisting of bowed spring leaves of varying lengthassembled on one another, and arranged in the. order of their lengths,the longest one at the bottom and resting'at both ends on the ends ofthe adjacent axle or on suitable bearings held thereby,

, the load to bev carried being applied to the shortest spring leaf,which is at the top of the composite spring.

In order to economize the space occupied by the springs, and prevent thevehicle body from being raised too high to accommodate the said springs,in a preferred form a pair of composite springs is provided adjacenteach axle, the respective members of the said pair being on oppositesides of the axle, so that thus it is no longer necessary to place `thecomposite spring in the same vertical plane with its axle, therebymaking it possible to lower the whole spring assembly very materially.

A further object of the invention is to provide yielding meansconnecting the opposite wheels of the axle, to permit each wheel to moveup or down withl respect to the other one and thus adjust the wheels toirregularities of level of the opposite rails. To' permit this and yetstabilize the frame laterally a torque member is provided connecting theopposite ends of an'axle,

-adjacent the wheels, so that any difference of elevation of the wheelswill ybe taken up by the torque members, which nevertheless is made ofsumcient str'ength to cause the wheels to move up and down as a unit,andto tend at all times to maintain the transverse stability of thetruck frame.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be noted as thespecic description of the invention is developed. herein below.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the presentspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing whichforms a part thereof. e

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front'elevation of a truck embodying the invention; 4

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; and f Fig. 3 is a side elevation, aportion of one of the wheels, and a portion of a supporting arm beingbroken away, and other parts being shown l in section on the planesindicated by the broken line -3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring tothe drawing, it will be seen that the truck comprisesabolster I located within the frame 2 having suitable means such as thelugs 3, for securing the non-rotating axl d, here shown as tubes, inproper horizontally spaced relation to one another. by the torquemembers, here shown as rods 5, mounted in bores 6 of the said lugs, andcarrying the radius arms l.

The arms 'I are secured to the ends of the rods 5 in any suitable way,for example, the rods may have squared portions 8 near their endsreceived in Square Openings 9 in the respective arms, and beyond thesquared portions the rods may have screw threaded ends I0, nuts II beingscrewed thereon, with suitable locking means, such as split springwashers l2, interposed. The arms l may, if desired, have widened endportions I3, to

provide longer seats for the squared parts 8 of the rods 5, as shownbest in Fig. 2.

In order that the wheels I4, carried at opposite ends of live axles I5,may have a certain small degree of freedom to move up and downindependently of one another, the outer ends of the arms 1 are enlargedas shown at I6, and within said enlarged ends, have bores I I ofsphericalzone shape fitting on correspondingly shaped portions I8 on thetubes 4.

0n each tube Il is a pair of saddles or yokes, I9, one at each end ofthe tube. Each yoke has two arms, which extend in opposite directionsfrom the respective tube 4, and terminate in sockets 20 and 2l. Springs22and 23, preferably composite, are supported by the said sockets, the

spring 22 having its ends received in the sockets 20, and the spring 23having its ends in the sockets 2l, of each pair.V

'Ihe yokes I9 are secured to the tubes 4 in any suitable way, forinstance by means of the split clamps each comprising the yoke portion211 and a complementary portion 25, the said portions of the clampsbeing secured to one another by the bolts 26 and nuts 21. In this waytwo doublespring supportsare provided, each consisting of a pair ofsprings 22 and 23 supported by the tube t by means of the yokes I9secured thereto at its ends.

'I'he leaves constituting each composite spring may be held together bya suitable retainer, such as 28, at their mid-points and adjacentthereto they may support the frame 2. For this purpose, the said framehas the depending lugs 29, strade dling the springs in such way that theframe 2 This is accomplished y will be supported at said end by thecorresponding free to pivot about their axis, the weight of the l frame2 and any load carried thereby will thus be transferred to the axles Iof the vehicle wheels Il, which thus will carry substantialiy equalloads.

The frame 2 may carry the bolster I in any suitable manner. Herein it isshown as located in a depression formed in the center of the frame. Thebolster I may have any desired means for carrying the vehicle, such asthe center plat'e 30 and the rollers 3I in the cages 32.

In operation it is clear that when load is applied to the frame'2, itwill be transferred to the four springs 22 and 23, and substantiallyuniformly shared thereby. Each pair of springs 22 and 23. will in turntransfer its stress to the corresponding pair of saddles or yokes I9,which pass it on to the tubular axle housing l secured thereto, andthence to the live axle I5 carried by the same.

When for any reason one wheel I4 must rise or fall with respect to theother wheel I4 on the same axle, this becomes possible by reason of thevsupporting arm 1 cooperating with the torque rod 5. As long as thewhole axle I5 rises or falls as a unit, no twisting of the rod 5 takesplace, but

- whenever one wheel moves more than the other.

the rod 5 will be given a twist in one direction or the other, toaccommodate such inequality, the "spherical mountings at the ends of theaxle housings 4 making this' possible. Similarly, any

tendency of the frame to tilt transversely, Will be opposed by thetorque rods 5.

' While each composite spring 22 and 23 is shown as made up of a numberof bowed leaves of varying lengths, it is clear that this is merely thepreferred form, andthat the number of leaves may bevaried as desiredwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and in extreme casesonly a single leaf may be used in each spring.

I claim:

1. A railway truck comprising a frame, a yoke pivoted to the frame, saidyoke comprising a torsion element mounted to turn freely on its axis i'nthe frame and having an arm at each end thereof,'an axle mounted in theends of the yoke arms, whereby said ends of the axle have a slightamount of independent vertical movement, two transverse springs, a crosspiece carried'at each end of the axle, said springsv being located infront of and behind said axle respectively and having their ends carriedby the cross pieces,

the frame of the truck being in turn supported by said springs. 4

2. A railway truck comprising a frame, an axle, a torsion yokecomprising a torsion element extending substantially parallel to theaxle, said yoke being mounted on the frame to pivot freely about theaxis of said torsionl element and supporting the axle, so'that its lendsmay move jointly without stressing the, yoke. and mayalso moveindependently by putting the yoke underl torsional stress, and .anupwardly-bowed transverse spring supported at its ends by thecorresponding ends of the axle and thus permitting` such independentvmovements thereof ,'said spring supporting the frame at an intermediatepoint. 3. A railway truck comprising a frame, a yoke comprising atorsion rod pivoted to the frame to turn freely about its axis in itsframe, and arms secured to the ends of the rod, an axle mounted in theends of the'yoke arms, two transverse springs, and two cross piecescarried one at each end of the axle, said springs being located in frontof and behind 'said ax'le respectively and having their ends carried bythe cross pieces, the frame of the truck being in turn supported by saidsprings.

4. A railway truck comprising a frame, two yokes,one pivoted at each endthereof, each yoke comprising a torsion rod with an arm at each endthereof and the rod mounted to turn freely on'its axis in the frame, twoaxles, qne supportedl by the arms of each yoke, a cross piece at eachend of each axle, and a pair of transverse springs foreach axle, saidsprings being supported at their ends in the cross pieces, and the framehaving projecting portions at each end, l,resting upon intermediateportions lof the springs of both pairs.

5. A' railway truck comprising a frame, a pair of horizontal torsionrods extending transversely across the frame near the center thereof,means pivotally securing said rods to the frame, an arm at'eachend ofeach rod having one end secured to the rod, an axle mounted for alimited extent rof universal motion in the other ends of the arms ofeach rod, whereby each axle may move vertically freely without stressingthe corresponding torsionrod, and may also tilt by subjecting said rodto torsional stress, a. pair of springs for each' axle, each such pairhaving their ends connected to the corresponding ends of the axle andhaving their central parts bearing against the under side of the frame,so that such springs will thus carry the frame and any load thereon.

RUPEN EKSERGIAN.

